SPRAYING

First spraying of the new season carried out April 20th

WINE UPDATE

PRUNED all Vines, it took 3 people a day and a half.

Pruned as follows;

Montepulciano, 4 - 6 * 4 bud spurs
All other vines, 2 canes 12 buds each, 2 spurs 2 buds each

Measured the Alcohol Percentages results as follows;

Pecorino 13.6%
Montepulciano 13.6%
Sangiovese 13.0%


RACKED

Wines Racked again, added 2 Grams of Potassium Bilsulphite per 50 Litres of Juice

ALL WINES LOOKING AND SMELLING VERY GOOD

FIRST RACKING

Racked all 3 wines, adding Sulphite.

For Pecorino 2 grams, for Montepulciano and Sangiovese 1 gram of sulphite.

The wines look OK to me, anyway no nasty aromas and the condition looks fine.

Both the montepulciano and sangiovese are already looking attractive, starting to clear with a nice bouquet. The White is still very cloudy and very yeasty and looks like it has a long way to go.

WINE MAKING NOTES

Friday 24th September

We picked 101Kg of Pecorino, Brix 23.5, crushed, destemmed all, and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs of grapes. Crushed at 5pm Friday, left overnight on skins at 14degrees.

Saturday 25th September

Pecorino, medium press at 9am Saturday to obtain around 50 Litres of Juice. Added yeast, Lalvin D47, immediately in stainless steel vat in cool room, temperature 14 degrees C. Hydrometer reading 90.

Picked Sangiovese around 2pm, 54 Kgs of grapes. Brix 23, 3pm crushed, destemmed around half, and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs of grapes. Left overnight on skins at 14degrees.

Sunday 26th September

9 am medium press Sangiovese to obtain around 28 Litres of Juice. Added yeast, Lalvin D47, immediately in stainless steel vats in cool room, temperature 14 degrees C. Hydrometer reading 86.

Around lunchtime added 2 grams per gallon yeast nutrient to the Pecorino and Sangiovese.

1pm, looked again at Montepulciano and checked Brix. Decided to pick as Brix had risen to 23. 1pm picked 91.7 Kgs Crushed, destemmed around half, and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs of grapes. Left for 2 hours on skins at 14degrees, then gentle press to obtain around 50 Litres of Juice. Added yeast, Lalvin D47, immediately in stainless steel vat in cool room, temperature 14 degrees C. Hydrometer reading 90.

GRAPE HARVEST

Here is an update, 22nd September

Pecorino

Brix at 23.5, Acid approx. 8-9 ppt. The acid maybe on the high side, but I dont want higher brix so I think we should go with this.

Montepulciano

Brix at 22.5, Total Acid at 6.5 ppt. These still have a little way to go, the berries look fine, and some are still changing colour, so I plan to let these hang a while longer.

Sangiovese

Brix at 23.0, Total Acid at 7 ppt. Although the acid is on the high side, some of the berries are starting to shrivel, and as these are for Rose, I think we should pick.

Note; I have a very primitive acid testing kit, so I am not sure how reliable these numbers are Need a proper Ph tester for next years vintage.

BRIX UPDATE

Wow what a difference ten days makes !

Just checked the Brix readings this evening, and the results are very surprising;

Montepulciano, Brix 15.4 so a reasonable increase during the period. Pips, still very green,.

Sangiovese, Brix 16, so a very small increase. Pips still very green, hint of brown.

Pecorino,Rows 3 and 4, Brix 16.5, wow what an increase, now I do believe this is an early ripener ! Pips, some green, but more brown.

GRAPE SUGAR UPDATE

Just sprayed again today, albeit more lightly than previous sprays, using only 80 litres total. The vines look very healthy, and still showing reasonable amount of fruit.

The weather this past week has been very mixed, temperatures dropped right down to around 20 degrees, with quite a lot of rain, altho it looks set to be fine and to warm up now.

Montepulciano

Starting to turn red, and the berries have definately swollen. Brix at 13 today, which is a dramatic increase in 8 days.

Sangiovese

Starting to turn red, and the berries have definately swollen. Brix at 15 today, which is a good increase in 8 days.

Pecorino Row 3 and 4

I think the berries may be just starting to swell slightly, altho they are still very small, not much more than half the volume of the red grapes. Strange Brix reading, with Row 3 showing Brix 11, a very good increase on last week, Row 4 showing Brix 7, which does seem strange. Lets see how these develop over the next two weeks.